Leeds United manager Daniel Farke is under some pressure, just four games into the club’s return to the Premier League. He didn’t get the forward he wanted in the summer, and his team have looked toothless and bereft of ideas in the final third.
The Whites are waiting to score a goal since Lukas Nmecha converted from the penalty spot to win all three points for Leeds against Everton in their opening game of the Premier League season at Elland Road.
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Those jubilant scenes inside the famous stadium seem distant as Leeds have not scored another league goal since then, and are yet to find the back of the net from open play this season.
Leeds United have never before scored as few goals in their first four league games of a season. This unwanted record has led to questions about the club’s recruitment in the summer, when they heavily spent on the defence and midfield, but scraped the bottom of the barrel for forwards.
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Daniel Farke is not exactly doing much for the confidence of his Leeds United players
Farke wanted to sign two more forwards towards the end of the window, and Calvert-Lewin was not the club’s primary target during the window.
Leeds’ wide options are more or less what they had the last time when they got relegated from the Premier League, apart from the addition of Noah Okafor.
And the manager, for some reason, has been keen to point that out and mention that these same forwards were called ‘hopeless’ and ‘not good enough’ in 2023.
The Leeds boss also indicated that he doesn’t expect much from them in the Premier League due to the gulf in quality.
“No criticism or no disrespect of my players, but the players we have, Willy Gnonto, Daniel James, Jack Harrison, Brenden Aaronson, they were all with us two-and-a-half years ago when we were relegated from the Premier League”, he said after the Fulham defeat.
“They were all called hopeless and not good enough for the Premier League.
“This is the reality, and they were, of course, outstanding on Championship level, but right now they still have a point to prove that all these labels and all these judgements are not right, but it’s a gulf between the Championship and the Premier League.
“We have this type of player in the offensive positions and I’m looking forward to working with them, to improving them, but we shouldn’t expect any miracles.”
What’s Farke’s end goal through these comments?
The reality is that Leeds have not scored from open play this season, and the confidence of the forwards in the team are not really high.
It is unclear what their manager is trying to achieve by slating their Premier League record and reminding them that they were called ‘not good enough’ for the top flight.
Farke is treading a precarious line with his rhetoric. At best, he is trying to develop a siege mentality among the forwards, which could galvanise them for the rest of the season.
However, it could have the opposite effect and their confidence could go through the floor if Leeds continue to struggle to score goals in the top flight.
Farke is trying to manage expectations in a squad that looks short in the final third, but he may want to be a little careful about what he says about players already low on confidence.
In the 1996/97 season, George Graham’s Leeds scored a measly 28 goals and comfortably survived the drop in 11th place. So it can be done, but it may need the current Whites boss to avoid publicly putting down his own players.
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